Courage Threads the Needle
by WishingDreamer5
Summary: Yuffie had read in one of Aerith's books that sometimes, when potions didn't heal a wound, people would stitch it, using a needle and thread if they had to. It seemed that Leon hadn't tried that treatment yet, as strange as that was. Tonight was the perfect time to do it for the sleeping man herself. Some surprise that will be...


**A/N: This one-shot is kinda special to me; it's my 100th story on this site. (But I think I've lost the touch to writing... If I ever had it, in the first place. :( ) Oh, and here, Yuffie still has long hair. Anyways, enjoy! :)**

****Oh, and the cover for this story was drawn by the lovely ~KeepCalmForKpop (on dA). Please don't use the picture without her permission!****

* * *

><p><em>~ Leon narrowed his eyes at her in his anger, making something completely else out of her words. "Were you trying to kill me in my sleep… with a<em> needle?" ~

* * *

><p>The small kitchen was filled with the delicious aroma of one of Aerith's dishes that she was preparing. Aerith herself was humming almost absent-mindedly a familiar melody of a song from her childhood, that mingled together with the soft sizzling of the casserole quite nicely, but Yuffie, who was sitting at the kitchen table, didn't seem to hear any of it, for she was too engrossed in another world full of mysteries and secrets. She was frowning lightly as her cherry red lips soundly formed the difficult words that she was currently reading.<p>

_Courage is the Key…_

_Unlock your Destiny…_

_Understand everything You Can…_

Right… Courage, huh? The little ninja thought, as she flipped through the thick book in her hands.

The almost eight year old Yuffie was trying to read one of Aerith's favorite books (with some difficulty, she had to admit that), but all of it was really vague. She didn't get the half of it, so she decided to give up on it. It was a waste of her time, anyway. How in the world could Aerith read this weird stuff and understand what was written at the same time? Maybe one day she would find out. The small part that she did understand, though, brought another question to her mind and she was sure that the only other female in the room could answer it.

She decided that she couldn't wait. "Say Aerith, am I brave?" Little Yuffie asked her favorite babysitter, who was currently cooking dinner for the four of them.

The raven-haired girl really had respect for the busy young woman in front of her, now more than ever, because she worked part-time at a hospital and cooked delicious meals for all of them, too. Yuffie knew that she herself would never have been able to pull that off had she been the one standing in Aerith's shoes... which she fortunately wasn't (the thought alone made her want to strangle herself from frustration).

The pink clad young woman stopped humming, lifting her eyebrows in surprise. "Why do you ask?" she asked curiously, with her back still turned towards her.

Her curly brown hair, as always pulled together in one elegant braid, was getting pretty long now. It was just like her not to want to cut it yet. The little girl wouldn't be too surprised if one day, Aerith's hair would be longer than Aerith herself. That day was likely to come if she kept it this way. One day, Yuffie hoped to get just as long hair as she did, because it truly looked beautiful. Too bad that she didn't have those soft curls, but boring straight hair that wasn't really that long. Aerith always told her that she was secretly jealous of Yuffie's straight hair and that the only reason that she kept her own hair in a braid, was because she couldn't do anything else with it. She found her own curls to be the most annoying thing ever. To emphasize her point, she would then run her fingers softly through the little girl's hair. Yuffie thought she was lying to cheer her up, though, because Aerith was always sweet like that.

"Just wondering. I mean, actually, we're all brave since we're living with the most impossible person ever right?"

Aerith then turned, giving her a questioning look, as she wondered who she was talking about now. Yuffie sighed, wearily. Really, for such a smart girl who could read the vaguest books known in history, Aerith was unbelievably _slow_ at times. It made her want to bite her nails, but Aerith had said that if she wanted long, beautiful nails when she grew up, then she shouldn't do it. Apparently, the green-eyed girl didn't want to have long and beautiful nails herself, because she was an avid nail-biter herself. She figured that it had something to do with Spikes-what's-his-name, her boyfriend who was nowhere to be seen. Honestly, Cloud really was a jerk, abandoning sweet, sweet Aerith just like that and not telling her where he was heading to or when he would come back, because he'd rather play Peek-a-boo and Hide and Seek with Sephiroth. The one who said that Yuffie never grew up, obviously never had met the weird case that was called Cloud 'Spiky' Strife.

Yuffie decided to help her a little and cried, "I'm talking about Leon, duh!"

Now, who else could she be talking about? Okay... admittedly, Cid wasn't that much of a darling, either (hah, not at all!), but at least that man was entertaining at times, and he could actually _talk_. She had learned lots of bad words from him, making her voco... voca-bu-lory, or whatever it was called, grow (the only thing she had learned from Squall, was that he didn't like to be called by his own name... oh, and that brooding was his hobby), much to Aerith's dismay. Sometimes she wondered why the young woman was always such a killjoy. She ruined all the fun and had even come up with a swear jar for Cid. Whenever he would utter some bad word, he would have to put a few Munny in the swear jar. In the end of the month, they could always buy some treat from the Munny, because Cid swore a lot!

Aerith started to laugh at that. "Oh, Yuffie…"

"It's true! And you know it, too."

Their fun didn't last long, though, because at that moment, Leon happened to enter the small kitchen. There was no doubt that he had heard (a part of) their conversation, since the first thing he did was shooting an unmerciful glare that could melt solid gold at Yuffie, who gave him an innocent "What-Did-I-Do?" look in return. One could almost say that she was the epitome of innocence with that look on her face. Leon knew better, though. But then again, Leon always shot such glares at her when he entered the room, so maybe it was an old habit of his.

It was then that the pretty flower girl noticed him standing at the doorway, too. "Hey. I thought you were going to-" she started.

"Jetlag," he replied curtly, before Aerith could say the word "sleep."

Running a hand through his dark, slightly messy chestnut-colored hair, he let out a frustrated sigh. The flower girl made an understanding noise. It had to be hard to travel from world to world, searching for that one person that meant the world to him, but that nobody seemed to have ever seen, and that while he only got only four hours of sleep all the time. And when you finally could sleep, the jetlag bothered you.

That made it only harder for her to ask him for the following favor, but she knew that she had no choice. She bit her lower lip, stating, "I really feel bad about saying this, but since there's nobody else who can babysit Yuffie for tonight…"

Leon, who was about to sit down on a vacant chair opposite from Yuffie (far enough from her for his own safety), instantly froze on the spot, making Yuffie snicker, because it really looked hilarious. "The answer is _no_," the brunet male swiftly said, his tone of voice making it very clear to her that he didn't want a discussion about it.

"But Le-"

"Aerith, last time I was her babysitter, she had almost cut my entire hair when I fell asleep," he protested, interrupting the young woman rather effectively.

Aerith winced. He didn't have to remind her of that, because it had looked _scary_, to say the least. Thankfully, the wizard Merlin who lived in the Mystical House in the Third District, had had a potion that could make his hair grow back again. If the wizard hadn't been there...

"Well, then don't fall asleep when we're playing _strip_ poker. How else were you supposed to pay when I can't take your bazillion belts off by myself? How in the world do _you_ manage to put them on, anyway?" Little Yuffie cried, throwing her hands up in the air, while giving him a stern look. "Looks like you have to wake up three hours earlier to get them all attached to your leather pants."

Aerith's emerald-green eyes instantly widened in shock at that, as she stared at Leon. "You did _what_?"

"No, she's lying!" Leon quickly called, lifting both of his gloved hands in defense. "I swear. I've never played strip poker before in my whole life!"

He didn't even have the time to wonder how a girl of her age knew what strip poker was in the first place. But then again, he shouldn't be too surprised about that, since Cid was pretty much her father figure. Didn't that say enough already?

"Lies! All lies!" Yuffie cried, dramatically.

Aerith's sharp look lasted only a few seconds, until her eyes softened visibly; a sign that she believed him. Thank heavens. Rather relieved, Leon breathed out again and Aerith turned her attention back to her cooking again.

"Then what's with the sudden panic, huh?" Yuffie whispered, so only Leon, who sat close enough to her, could hear her.

Leon's answer was a glare that could probably cause an earthquake if he didn't watch out. "Can't Cid babysit her?" he wondered, his sharp eyes never leaving Yuffie's.

It took a while before the brunette girl replied. "No, I'm afraid he can't. He said that his shop would stay open at night, too, to get extra customers."

"...I see," he muttered.

Of course Cid would say that if it meant that he could escape from Yuffie and her antics. Suddenly, Leon wished that he had a shop, too.

"Yup, so now it's only you and me, buddy," Yuffie said, eying the brunet warrior in a way that made his hair stand upright.

Leon could only think one thing; there was no way in hell that he was going to babysit this little devil…

At least, that was what the swordsman had thought at first, but leave it to Aerith and her damn persuasion skills to make him "change his mind."

The brunet male sighed, seeing that there was no way back this time. "Fine, but this is the last time," he said eventually, warningly.

The tone of his voice made it more than just clear to all of them that he tolerated no contradiction.

"Great! You won't regret it, I promise," Aerith assured him with a smile.

Leon merely grunted, not telling her that, in fact, he already did regret his decision. This would be another unbearably _long_ night, he was fairly sure of that. After all, this wasn't the first time for him to babysit that girl.

* * *

><p>It was fairly late. Several hours had passed since Aerith asked Leon to babysit the youngest member of their new family. Yuffie was already lying in her warm and cozy bed, staring up at the ceiling, as if she was looking for some pattern on it. It was so quiet around her that she feared that she had become deaf thanks to Squall's constant 'Silence-Treatment.' Her hands were folded behind her head, much like an extra pillow. Near her bed, there was a little lamp, installed by Cid. It was still on, so she wouldn't get scared from the darkness that surrounded her as soon as the lights were turned off. She couldn't sleep, though, but stupid Squall had sent her to bed, anyway, without listening to her. She had caught him yawning several times now, even though he had thought that she hadn't noticed. How could she not? She was always aware of what he was doing. And just because he was too tired to do anything, didn't automatically mean that everyone else was, too! Jeez, that was just so typical of him, seeing things only black and white. It just wasn't fair anymore.<p>

The little ninja wondered what the man in the other room was doing. Would he be sleeping already, or just staring off into the distance, while brooding like there was no tomorrow? Probably the latter, but with someone like Squall, one could never be too sure.

When the raven-haired girl couldn't take it anymore, she let out a long-suffering sigh and rolled skillfully out of her bed. Carefully, as not to make any suspicious sounds and wake up the dog… uh, she meant _lion_, she opened her bedroom door. It creaked slightly, making her wince. She held still, listening if she had woken him up or not. That guy made her sometimes think that he was sleeping on needles, or something. When she was sure that she hadn't, she made her way to the small living-room. The wooden floor felt too cold on her bare feet, as she shuffled closer to the couch. The television was still on, but the volume was almost turned down, probably as not to wake her. Yuffie turned her head away from it and saw to her great surprise that Squall was sleeping like a baby on the couch, in a sitting position. His arms were crossed over his chest, showing that he was rather muscular (as if she didn't know that already). He was breathing in a slow and steady rhythm, with his lips parted slightly. He wasn't in the slightest aware of the little spectator that he had. It was almost... cute.

"Aww," Yuffie whispered.

Even when he was asleep, there was a small frown evident on his face. The guy never seemed to give his facial muscles a break, not even during nights. And wow, now that she was close enough to him, she noticed that he had really long eyelashes. She thought that it was kind of unfair that guys always seemed to have longer eyelashes than girls. It wasn't like they really needed it, now did they?

However, what stood out the most in Squall's face was definitely his long, thin scar that ran diagonally across the upper half of his face, from his forehead to under his eye. Upon closer inspection, it looked as if the wound was still fresh. The funny thing was that it didn't make him look ugly. It was more on the contrary. It made him look more mysterious, charismatic, handsome… and she knew that she wasn't the only girl in this world that had those thoughts of her.

At that moment, another thought crossed the little girl's mind. Not too long ago, she had read in one of Aerith's books that sometimes, when potions didn't heal a wound, people would stitch it, using a needle and thread if they had to. It seemed that Leon hadn't tried that treatment yet. Perhaps she should surprise him by doing it for him herself. It couldn't be that hard. She had even asked Aerith how it worked and she had explained it all to her.

Having made up her mind, she went to the cupboard that was on the other side of the room to get a needle and some thread. She knew where everything was, since she had spent a lot of time with the flower girl, who would always arrange stuff in the room and clean everything. Fortunately for her, she could find a thread that matched Leon's skin tone color perfectly. It would be practically invisible against his skin. She was sure that he would find it horrible if he could spot the thread when he looked into the mirror. She would, so why wouldn't he?

After she got all the items she needed and was done preparing, she tiptoed back to where Leon was still sleeping blissfully. Yuffie noticed that there was no way she could work on the scar without having to sit in his lap. She shrugged. Not that she minded that. It was more a treat than a punishment. Climbing carefully on the couch, she sat down on his lap and brushed some of his stubborn locks out of his face. To be sure that he was still sleeping, she waved her hand in front of his face.

No reaction. Good.

Sticking the tip of her tongue out in concentration, she wanted to start, when Leon chose that moment to stir slightly; he was waking up. Yuffie waited for a short moment, before wanting to continue again. As soon as he opened his stormy blue eyes and realized what was happening, he widened them in horror at the sight. Immediately, he grabbed her wrist and pulled it behind her back, making it impossible for her to move.

"_Ow_! Hey, watch it! I almost poked your eye out with this needle!" she cried, trying to wriggle herself free from his grasp.

It was useless, though; he was too strong for her.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" he hissed furiously, his eyes bloodshot.

"I'm trying to cure your broodiness, what else?" was the smart remark, as she matched the glare he was sending to her.

Leon narrowed his eyes at her in his anger, making something completely else out of her words. "Were you trying to kill me in my sleep… with a _needle_?"

Trying to put on a brave face (really, he looked a little too scary now), she replied, "Of course not! I was just… I wanted to stitch your wound… You know, your scar." A deafening silence was what followed. At this point, Leon didn't know what to say. Yuffie took it as a sign to continue. "You see, you're always so sad and grumpy. There was a time where you were so much nicer and looked so much happier… I'm sure you remember that, too, even if you act like you don't... I figured that it was because of your scar. You changed so much…"

Leon looked away from her big brown eyes, the frown on his forehead instantly growing deeper. He closed his eyes when a tired sigh escaped his lips. Apparently, she hadn't meant any harm with it. She was still a child, worried about him…

"Are you mad?" she asked, almost inaudible.

She looked at her lap, not sparing him a glance. Somehow, she truly sounded upset at that thought, but Leon didn't have the slightest clue why that would be. Why would she care what he thought, about anything?

"…No," he replied, eventually. "Just… promise me not to do such things anymore, because next time I _will _get mad."

At this, Yuffie's face brightened visibly, making his breath catch in his throat for a moment. "I promise!" she chirped, before catching him in a fierce hug that knocked him back into the couch again with a dry "Oomph!"

He realized that he was looking at the ceiling. At first, Leon didn't know for sure what to do. It was the first time after one year that someone had hugged him like this...

However, after a few seconds of patting her back rather awkwardly, he said, "Okay… You can let me go now... And go to sleep, Aerith can be back any minute now."

Yuffie scrunched up her nose in a rather cute fashion. "Okay. G'night, Leon!"

It didn't go unnoticed by him that she had called him by his new name this time, but something told him that it wouldn't stay like that for long. "Goodnight."

Expertly, Yuffie got off of his lap and skipped back to her shared bedroom, with the strange feeling that she had accomplished something big today. Leon watched her go and shook his head at her funny run. From that moment on, he decided to be at least a little bit nicer to her, no matter how annoying she was sometimes. She was a child, after all, and she deserved to be one.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: In case you love (the) Hollow Bastion (crew) as much as I do, I've made up a challenge for anyone who's willing to give it a try and/or is suffering from a writers block at the moment. You can find it in my profile. Thanks for reading, and for listening to my usual rambling. :)**


End file.
